A Snowy London Christmas
by animalwriter
Summary: Dinah, Severus, and family visit the London Eye Ferris wheel around Christmas time. Pure holiday fluff. One-shot. SS/OC. Featuring characters from "The Serpents' Kiss".


**A/N: Hello everyone! This is just a one-shot, little piece of Christmas/holiday fluff featuring Dinah and Severus from "The Serpents' Kiss" and related tales. This is PURE FLUFF, just as a warning :) – my holiday gift to all my wonderful readers. I really hope you enjoy it. For those of you who just stumble upon this story without reading the others, it's pretty straightforward. The only things you need to know are that both Severus and Sirius survived the war through a mysterious 'rebirth' magic, Severus married Dinah (my OC) and Sirius married Lucy (my friend, CommanderValeria on this site's, OC) and the two women became friends thus forcing the men into an uneasy reconciliation. And Rosa and Luke are Dinah's Muggle friends (she's Muggle-born and they live in both worlds). Otherwise, I don't think you'll get too lost :). Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!**

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><p>A SNOWY LONDON CHRISTMAS<p>

_December, 2001..._**  
><strong>

Dinah shivered a little, as she climbed out of the car into the cold winter night air by the Thames in London. The sky was a bit cloudy as snowflakes fell around them, but there were little gaps in them where she could see stars even in the lights of the city, and her shivering was both from the cold and from excitement. She heard the passenger door slam and then soft, gloved hands on her shoulders, greasy hair tickling her cheek as her husband leaned in close, murmuring in her ear, "Well, we're here."

"Mm," she agreed, so happy they'd decided to make a tradition out of this and come here again this year.

Severus smiled at the expression on his lovely wife's face. Her happiness and flushed cheeks made him want to stay and hug her like this forever, but there were others begging for freedom from the constraints of the infernal Muggle vehicle they had come here in, "Do not forget our offspring," he teased, her happiness contagious.

"Of course not," Dinah smiled at her husband, gently extricating herself from his embrace and moving to open the back door of the car where her baby slept in his car seat. On his other side, and where Severus was going now to open the door, his almost-two sister bounced up and down in her seat.

"We here, Mummy?" Maylene asked as Dinah reached to unbuckle Tommy. Before Dinah could answer her she turned her anxious grin to Severus as the door opened, "We here, Daddy?"

"We are here," he assured her, unbuckling her and lifting her out as Dinah did the same with the one Severus liked to call 'the boy'. Maylene was 'the girl' more often than not. That was just her husband's way. But there was no denying how much he loved their children.

Tommy did not seem to want to be awake in Dinah's arms, but Maylene was squirming to get down from Severus's. She did not stay put very long, and her excitement was too much to allow her to do it this time of all times, "I can walk!" she insisted.

"Indeed?" Severus never failed to find his daughter amusing. She was also quite gifted, able to form short, complete sentences at this age and with a rather extensive vocabulary. Of course, that did tend to make her more of a handful even at the best of times. "Shall I release you or keep you prisoner?"

"Release! Release, Daddy!" she giggled, squirming to the point where he could do nothing else.

Laughing, he kissed the top of her head and placed her down, where she ran to grasp her mother's hand, "Is it close? Is like a big eye?"

"Now, now," Dinah laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm, "You were here just last year and saw it; don't tell me you don't remember?"

"I was baby," she insisted, placing her hands on her hips and giving Dinah a look that said she should have known that already.

"Yes, that's true. Let's get going and then you can see for yourself, all right? After all, you're a big girl now, aren't you?"

"Yes!" she agreed, hurrying ahead.

"Now, don't run off too far!" Dinah called, laughing as her husband chuckled next to her. She hefted Tommy so that he was more easily situated on her shoulder and turned to Severus as Maylene began playing around trying to catch snowflakes on her mittens and tongue; "Get the stroller from the back, will you?"

"Of course," he smirked, "You are only asking _me_ to do this to gloat about the fact that I cannot use magic in this car park and thus must extract it by hand, aren't you?"

She had to laugh, "Well, I didn't think I was gloating but I suppose it _is_an extra perk. Besides, it's always fun and rather fascinating to watch you do things manually." As a matter of fact, in her opinion, anything he did was extremely attractive. And she was feeling extra affectionate towards each and every one of her family members tonight anyway.

He offered her another tantalizing smirk before moving to take Tommy's carrier out of the back of her car, unfolding it by hand and thus allowing Dinah to strap the little three-month old in, "He's still sleeping," she smiled as she kissed the top of his head before looking up at her husband as Maylene ran over to look down at her baby brother, "I think he's going to be the quiet one."

"Oh, I wouldn't make assumptions just yet," Severus said with a slight, amused smile as he placed a hand on top of Maylene's head, "After all, this one was rather quiet for the first couple of months too and then look what happened. Isn't that right, dear?" he ruffled her hair.

"Yeah!" May beamed, "Can we go now?"

"Yes, let's go. You can run ahead, but stay close, all right. And hold Daddy's hand when you cross the street," Dinah called as the little girl danced ahead again. She began pushing Tommy's stroller as they crossed the car park in the direction of the river, the little flakes still falling all around them, shimmering in the city lights.

"Sparkly trees!" May squealed, pointing at the trees strung with Christmas lights that lined the lot as they approached the end of it, "Like at home!"

Dinah smiled as Severus chuckled next to her, "Yes. You'll be able to see the lights of the whole city when we get to the Ferris wheel. You see?" she smiled as the London Eye came into view across the street they approached, the futuristic Ferris wheel that had been erected a few years back towering over the Thames whose surface glittered with the reflections of the city lights. The wheel itself was also all lit up and sparkling for the holiday season.

"Ahh!" she shrieked and clapped her hands together, her little voice thrilled with the excitement of a child. Dinah had been hoping for such a reaction, and knew it would only be more charming the closer they got to the attraction. "Big! But… I thought it was eye like this!" their daughter whirled around and stuck her thumb and forefinger on her right eye, prying it open wide and grinning.

Severus laughed. His daughter continually surprised him with her endearing and intelligent comments. Perhaps because he was not used to young children, he did not really understand how they behaved as well as his wife who had studied psychology and sociology at Muggle university. Children were an enigma, certainly. They did not listen to reason and their actions had absolutely no logic behind them, but they were a joy to behold nonetheless. At least, when they were _his_ children, or May's small friends Owen and Jacob, the sons of Lucy and Sirius and Rosa and Luke, respectively. He had a low tolerance for the children of strangers, especially the plethora that they would surely see today in Muggle territory. Raised by incompetent parents who had no concept of how to properly keep their brats in line. Although he shared his wife's nostalgia for visiting the ridiculous attraction, he often wished it was not so crowded due to its popularity among the Muggle masses.

"The 'eye' is just a nickname… maybe because you can _see_ all of London from up top," Dinah teased, gently tapping her daughter on the forehead between her eyes with a finger.

"We going up top?" she shrieked, thrilled again and taking off in the direction of the street.

"May Eileen Snape!" Severus shouted, before she had a chance to run across. The girl was so impulsive sometimes it caused him and Dinah a great deal of worry, though usually she was intelligent enough to know what was dangerous and stop herself. That didn't stop his heart from jumping in his chest and Dinah from drawing in a sharp breath next to him, though.

Luckily, their daughter froze at the edge and turned around, a sad look on her face, "I not gonna cross."

He sighed, "You may not rush to the side of the street at such speeds either way. Come here," he snapped his fingers and pointed to the ground by his side.

Dinah let out the breath she had been holding when their spunky little black-haired girl made her way back to her father's side, safely out of harm's way, and muttered a soft, "I sorry."

"That is all right," Severus said, switching from his stern demeanor to smile at her and offer her his hand, "Shall we all cross together?"

"Yes," she beamed, placing her small hand in his as Dinah smiled, continuing to push the stroller with the sleeping Tommy in it across the street and toward their destination. The path leading up to the London Eye was lined with more 'sparkly trees', and Maylene alternated running and twirling along the path, stopping to point and stare up at the trees as often as she could, sometimes walking backwards and forcing Dinah and Severus to warn her over and over again to watch where she was going. At one point she almost ran into someone's dog, but was quick to apologize to 'puppy' and give the creature a pat on the head, making the owner smile. Her charm was infectious even to strangers, and Dinah was unbelievably proud to have such a daughter. Likewise, many passing people smiled as they saw Tommy's sleeping form. She had never quite imagined, before becoming a parent, how good it really felt to be complimented on your children. But now she knew.

"At least they are staring at the children and not us," Severus muttered when she brought it up to him, "I look utterly ridiculous in these Muggle clothes."

Dinah covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, "Oh darling, I hate to break it to you but given your current outfit you look pretty much exactly the same as you always do." It was true. The long black wool coat he had chosen to wear bore a striking resemblance to his wizard frock coat.

"Indeed?" he smirked, not commenting further as he grumbled and adjusted the coat in concern. Oh well. There was no getting through to him – he just secretly _loved_ complaining about Muggle things, and she didn't mind letting him. It was an endearing quality. He did speak again, though, when they made it to the Ferris wheel itself and found themselves standing in a rather long line. He heaved a sigh, "Muggles… _everywhere_. We always pick the best dates to come here."

She chuckled, reaching over to loop her arm into his, "It would be like this at any time, especially this time of year. And this is only our second visit; we're hardly at the point where you should be using terms like 'always'. Now look at our daughter," she pointed to Maylene and got her husband to smile at the way the small girl stared wide-eyed up at the towering structure, her little mouth hanging open in shock.

"Well, May?" Severus asked, "What is your assessment."

"It's big!" she managed, a smile lighting up her face as she pointed to the top, "We go on it? Fly up there?"

"Not with brooms," Dinah chuckled, ruffling her hair, "Remember, this is the Muggle world. No magic."

"No magic, Daddy!" she declared with a giggle, whirling to point at Severus. Even at this young age their daughter was well aware of how much her father liked magic over Muggle things and found it amusing to tease him about it.

"Is that so?" he raised an amused eyebrow at her; "You are just like your mother."

They continued their playful banter amongst each other, all except for Tommy who remained asleep, as they waited in line for their turn to get on the London Eye. Maylene began to grow anxious the longer she waited, but finally they ended up at the front of the line, waiting for the next slowly rotating capsule to rotate in front of them so they could climb on.

"They like spaceships!" May declared when they finally got inside one of the capsules, which indeed looked like 'pods' from some sort of science fiction tale. Of course, part of the gimmick of the attraction, like so many things at this time, had been opening around the new millennium, and so the futuristic theme was a must. In fact, 'Millenium Wheel' was another commonly used name for the structure.

"Yes," Dinah smiled, "That's one of the things I like about it."

"_Muggle_ spaceships," Severus added disdainfully as they were closed in and began to rotate their way up towards the top.

"As opposed to wizard spaceships?" she had to tease him for that silly comment, kissing him on the cheek.

He chuckled, reaching to gently brush some snow from her shoulder and touch his lips to her temple, reminding her of the time they had come here last year, when it had also been snowing. And they were rotating up slowly, the view growing more expansive the higher above the river they rose, the glittering reflections of the city's Christmas lights growing clearer on the water's surface. Dinah sighed as she took in the view, enhanced by the white falling snowflakes, filled up with pleasant nostalgia and happiness.

"Wow! Pretty!" May rushed to the clear glass edge of the capsule to look out, "You see big clock!"

"Big Ben," Dinah corrected her daughter with a smile, "We'll go visit there too before we have to go back to Hogwarts. You're just getting old enough to where you'll start remembering our little outings, aren't you?"

"We here last year?" she asked, turning around to face them.

"Yes, we came with your Aunt Lucy and Uncle Sirius," Severus told her, surprised at how that did not sound in any way disagreeable to him. The more the years passed the more distant his rivalry with Sirius Black seemed. It was more than just the rebirth that had given him this peace. It was Dinah. She had given him that along with other friends, these two beautiful children, and this perfect life. It was all thanks to her… to his miracle.

"And Woewo?" Maylene grinned, still liking to use her baby name for Owen.

"Yes, and Owen as well," he assured her.

"Shall we see how your brother is doing before we make it up to the top? Maybe he'll wake up," Dinah leaned over and took their sleeping son out of his stroller, gently lifting him up into her arms to rest against her shoulder. Then she smiled, "Likely not. It seems he wants to sleep through the whole thing."

Severus laughed a little, reaching an arm around his wife's slim waist, covered in her lovely beige Muggle coat. Where he did not generally like wearing Muggle clothes himself, but put up with it for her sake, he did find her quite beautiful in them. In everything, really, "It is good to be back here," he assured her.

She smiled and leaned against him, their little boy in her arms, "I do like the idea of making it into a family tradition. What do you think, Maylene? Would you like to come here every year?"

"Yes!" Maylene shrieked, clapping her hands together, "Can we?"

"I don't see why not, especially as your father so graciously puts up with all of these Muggle things for us," Dinah teased her husband again. It was one of her favorite pastimes. "We have to make the most of those moments. And I'm sure we can come with Owen or Jacob or Grandmum and Granddad sometimes, too."

"Yay!" she twirled around again, dancing back up to the glass and placing her palms against it, "We almost at top! Almost! Almost!"

"Yes, that we are," Severus smiled, enjoying this holiday outing much more than he usually enjoyed Muggle things. His wife was right in that respect, though he did wish that she would 'mess' with him about it a little less. Or maybe he didn't. He did enjoy her 'messing'.

"I like coming before Christmas," Dinah said, once again enjoying watching the falling snow, "It's so lovely with the city lit up like this, everyone in such a festive mood, the decorations… like Christmas at Hogwarts."

"With more electricity," Severus had to add, earning a light, playful swat from his wife. "I don't mind, I assure you," he told her, laughing.

"Good," she grinned, and then sighed again wistfully, "I love Christmas. Everything seems so peaceful and happy… I wish the whole world could be like this always. Especially now."

"Bad things happened to Muggles, right Mummy?" May asked, concern on her face, remembering the things she'd heard off and on over the last few months about an event in the Muggle world that had affected people in all countries and had even touched the ears of the wizarding world.

"Some did, sweetheart," Dinah said, reaching out to stroke her hair as she wandered back over, "Before you were born there was a war in our world, and they have wars in the Muggle world, too. A few months ago some things happened, but they're always happening in all worlds. People like to fight, but… not always… that's why we have Christmas like this. So everyone can be happy."

"Pretty lights are happy," she smiled.

Severus laughed, reaching out to place a hand on her head, "They are indeed, Maylene. Why don't you go look at them? We'll be at the top in a few moments."

"Okay," she turned back, but didn't wander over to the glass again just yet as she smiled and took in the falling snow and glittering Muggle landscape, "Muggle Christmas different from wizard Christmas?"

"A little bit," Dinah said, smiling at her young daughter's intelligent question and holding her sleeping son a little closer as she turned to look at her husband, who returned a soft smile to her. She felt warm inside herself, thinking how blessed she was to have this perfect little family, no matter how bad things were in the world right now. It gave her hope.

"But," she turned back to continue to address Maylene, "there are a lot of things that are the same too. All over the world, people celebrate Christmas and other holidays for a lot of different reasons. But, I think… that the idea of 'peace on earth and goodwill to all'… is something that is universal and means a lot to everyone," she smiled. Yes, that she felt very strongly and with all her heart. "At least, that's what all these sparkling lights mean to me," she told her daughter.

"My idealist," Severus murmured, coming up to wrap his arms around her waist.

She turned to smile into his warm, dark brown eyes, "Only yours forever," she assured him.

Severus sighed, holding his beloved more tightly and leaning in close, murmuring against her ear, "This is our fourth straight Christmas together. Each one better than the last." Truly, he had never imagined he could feel this much love and this much joy until he'd met Dinah.

"Severus…" his words made Dinah feel even warmer than before. It meant so much that she could now see her husband's eyes shining with happiness when he looked at her and at the children, especially after he had spent so many years alone. His joy at the life they now shared was the most precious Christmas gift of all, she thought, as she leaned up to kiss his lips, indulging a little bit in all this happiness.

"No, no, yucky!" Maylene giggled, scolding them for their little display of affection.

Dinah and Severus's lips broke apart and they laughed together at their daughter. "Oh, all right," Dinah laughed, "We'll stop for now," she gave her husband another quick peck before withdrawing, but his arm remained around her waist.

"Yes," Severus agreed, offering Dinah a secret smile that made her give a shy blush, "For now." True, Maylene's aversion to their affection was common in small children from normal families, and he could happily say that his family was indeed normal. Even so, he was happier than he could possibly describe in words that they could see little things like this. His children would never know what it was to grow up as he had, with a father who never gave their mother the affection she deserved. No, they would see two parents who loved each other and treated each other properly. They would not know the life that he had, would not have to wander the streets and observe affectionate strangers to learn the ways couples should really treat each other and then have the horrible realization that their family was not like that. No, his children would never experience those things. Never.

Tommy shifted a bit in Dinah's arms and rubbed a little fist over his eyes, but did not seem to want to wake up, even though they were now mere inches from the top of the Ferris wheel; "Maylene, look. Here we are at the top," Dinah told her.

"The top!" she shrieked, running back to press her palms to the glass, jumping up and down with excitement, "Lookit the lights! Snow! Water! It's snowing! It's sparkly! We at the top! Mummy! Daddy! Look!"

Dinah and Severus were once again filled with affectionate laughter and joy at their daughter's reaction to being at the top of the London Eye Ferris wheel, the Thames and the entire city laid out before them in a glittering display of lights being sprinkled by powdery flakes of snow. It was indeed indescribably beautiful.

"Yes, Maylene, it is quite a sight," Severus said as they smiled at their daughter, and then he turned to regard the sleeping baby in his wife's arms, "Thomas," he smiled, leaning over to stroke the boy's fuzz of brown hair and kiss his forehead before looking up into the eyes of his wife, reaching a gentle finger to touch her cheek, filled with love for her, "Dinah."

Dinah felt her cheeks flush and that warmth once again growing in her heart as she watched her husband look at their children, saw his affection for their sleeping baby, and then the way that he looked in her eyes, with so much unhidden love, "Severus," she replied, giving him a discreet kiss before cuddling into his arms. But there were no more 'yucky' comments from Maylene to speak of. Their little girl was too thrilled with staring at the scene spread before them, and their baby boy was comfortable sleeping within the warmth of their shared embrace. Their family was whole, complete, and perfect.

Dinah gave another happy sigh as she held her son and was held in the arms of her precious husband, their heads pressed together as they watched their daughter and the sight before them from the top of the Ferris wheel. She knew her daughter was still small, but she hoped she'd remember the words she'd said to her today about the meaning of Christmas and the sparkly lights and peace on Earth and goodwill to all. She felt it so strongly as she surveyed the scene with Severus and her family, in a beautiful glittering world filled with what she was sure was a similarly shining hope.

Yes. The meaning of these sparkly lights was love.


End file.
